Les Cols

In the remote town of Olot in la Garrotxa, a volcanic area in the north of Catalonia; chef Fina Puigdevall – with the help of RCR Architects – put forth Les Cols; a stunning two star Michelin restaurant; voted most beautiful in the world by a handful of publications.

Puigdevall’s culinary proposals are rooted in the surrounding landscape. The majority of the ingredients are grown and raised at the restaurant, maintaining an ultra local and organic practices. It is beyond “farm to table” as the table is at this beautiful 13th century farm.

Our three hour long meal started with a glass of cava and mini hot cheese buckwheat crust sandwiches in the garden, them we where guided to our table

Dishes were paraded through the golden room to vanish soon after!

Buckwheat spaghetti in a smoked broth turned out to be a gelatinous signature dish.
Early spring brought us calçots in a charcoal tempura with beetroot romesco (Catalan nut and red pepper based sauce). This is a Catalan delicacy – and truthfully we coud have repeated this for a few more plates!

The lovely Pumpkin 5 different ways, was educational and delicious! It turns out the five was are: grated, cold xantana, crouton, soup, & a sliced with black olive oil !

Overall service was good, attentive, and knowledgeable … not to mention patient! We asked all the questions and they indulged our curiosity, even letting us explore the entire place, including the kitchen.

Keep in mind this is a really large meal, so don’t eat a big lunch! Afterwords, we couldn’t move much and sort of rolled back to our hotel! (Also beware the herbal liquor if you are not used to it .. it is where curiosity crosses to indigestion!)

truffles in chanterelle mushroom royal sauce

grilled lettuce with lemon- apple vinegar

artichoke with tangerine mayonnaise and artichoke chips

grilled Brussels sprouts with olive oil and potato puree

sweet onion crumble from Croscat, with cheese from Farró and fried herbs

Les Cols Pavellons

About an hour and a half north of Barcelona is the Garrotxa, an area full of small volcanoes, nature reserves, and picturesque little towns. One of these is Olot, and nestled towards the back of a 13th century farm house is the anachronistic Le Cols Pavellons hotel.

This science-fiction like hotel was designed by RCR Architects; Who are also responsible for the superb restaurant next door, the two Michelin star “Les Cols”

In the Pavellons, all rooms are built out of glass; floating over petrified lava. The ceiling is metal and glass, and the rooms are separated from each other by front and back zen gardens. Each is isolated in vision and sound – and it is hard imagine where you are in the world whilst inside your private world.

As noted, the rooms, or pavellons, are very private being made out of several layers of opaque / translucent green glasses. Blackout shades, the same color tone as the glass, are remote-controlled via a minimalist panel that also controls ambient lighting.

The bathroom has a a floor level plunge tub that fills with soothing volcanic thermal spring water. The amenities are likewise enjoyable – including the lovely, and very warm, slippers.

Breakfast is planed a day ahead and is left outside your door. A tray of bread, orange juice, yogurt, fruits, hard boiled eggs, honey and preserves, butter and tomatoes along with thermoses filled with hot coffee and cold milk. This is such a lovely way to start the day; my words are just failing to describe the happiness this breakfast brings.

At checkout time, we were given a picnic bag with bread, olive oil, sausage, a round of cheese, salad, mineral water and a lovely bottle of wine. A loving touch was a collection of postcards depicting watercolors of local attractions – and on the backs were hand drawn road maps of how to get to each one. We took up the conceit and enjoyed a lovely day of site seeing and picnics!

The Pavellons at Les Cols is not the hotel for everyone; we recommend reading other reviews before booking. For us it was a dream location, painful to leave and first in our hearts to return!

La Garroxta

La Garroxta is an absurdly lush and lovley county in the province of Girona – just north of Barcelona- by northern Cataluña. While it is very small, there are many places to explore and all within close distance to each other!

We explored some of the volcanic region around the town of Olot, where we stayed at “Les Cols Pavilions”

There are about 40 volcanoes in the region, with Croscat and Santa Magarida being the more impressive ones.

Castellfollit de la Roca: This beautiful thin town, dating from the 13th century, is situated on the edge of a fifty meter basalt cliff, almost a kilometer long. The cliff is the result of the erosive action of the rivers Fluvià and Toronell.